In contrast to the strong wireless results, residential access line subscriptions fell 10.9 percent from a year earlier. Wireline operating revenues fell 1.4 percent from a year earlier to $12.3 billion.

That was similar to AT&T, which announced last week that it added 1.3 million net wireless subscribers in the first quarter but suffered a heavy fall in residential phone users.

Like AT&T, Verizon said it was able to buffer the fall in traditional phone subscriptions with growth in high-speed Internet subscribers.

The company said it had a total of 8.5 million broadband customers at the end of the quarter, up 14.9 percent.

That included users of both DSL and FiOS, an advanced service based on an all-fiber network that can also deliver high-definition video.

Verizon said it added 263,000 FiOS TV customers, bringing the total to 1.2 million.

"Our plan to roll out FiOS Internet and video is beginning to pay off for us," Strigl said. "We knew that our historic dependence on voice needed to shift to broadband and data. And we're able to offset that erosion we're seeing in voice through data and FiOS."

Verizon shares rose to $37.75 from their previous close of $37.04 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Additional reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)